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Reposted by Naomi Kanakia

Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

"Practical, honest, straightforward, sensible, & amusing."—Henry Oliver, author of Second Act & the literary blog The Common Reader Read a free preview of @naokan.bsky.social's new book, What's So Great About the Great Books?, out now: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco... 21 July UK/EU pub.

What's So Great About the Great Books? Why You Should Read Classic Literature (Even Though It Might Destroy You) by Naomi Kanakia. A popular novelist and literary blogger answers those who claim the classics are too difficult, too problematic, and too white—and explains what we gain by reading them.

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Nancy Pearl @nancybooklustpearl.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

I'm a big fan of the work that Brad does with his @neglectedbooks.com (it's a great follow and--I can't resist this--he's a great fellow), and loved this biography of a woman who should have been much better known than she was.

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Marissa Skull-Yorick 💀 @marissaskud.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Went to @naokan.bsky.social’s SF event celebrating “What’s So Great About the Great Books?” — Naomi had many funny & insightful things to say, but what haunts me is the guy in the signing line who said his favorite Great Book is The Odyssey but was unaware there’s a big movie version coming out

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Joseph M. Adelman @jmadelman.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

A fascinating conversation about Great Books and love of reading between @biblioracle.bsky.social and @naokan.bsky.social. Lots of insights about reading, writing, thinking about your audience, and coming back to books to try again.

open.substack.com

Talking "Great Books" with Naomi Kanakia

On becoming a "radically different person" through reading.

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Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

In What's So Great About the Great Books?, novelist & literary blogger @naokan.bsky.social answers those who claim the classics are too difficult, too problematic, & too white—& explains what we gain by reading them. Out now (21 July UK pub)! Find it here: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

What's So Great About the Great Books? Why You Should Read Classic Literature (Even Though It Might Destroy You) by Naomi Kanakia

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Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Wonderful to see @naokan.bsky.social's What's So Great About the Great Books? (out May 26th) featured in this roundup!

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Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

Kirkus Reviews calls @naokan.bsky.social's new book What’s So Great About the Great Books? a "convincing case for Great Books as the road to self-discovery and moral action." Out this May! Read the full review here:

kirkusreviews.com

WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT THE GREAT BOOKS? | Kirkus Reviews

Beauty and morality.

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Naomi Kanakia @naokan.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

The classics are pretty popular. You can go into any bookstore and buy Tolstoy, Milton, Shakespeare, Jane Austen--that wouldn't be true if people weren't buying them.

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Marie Brennan @swantower.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

<totters out onto porch> <settles into rocker> <thumps cane a few times> Let's talk about what the process of submitting short fiction used to look like, shall we? And about what it looks like now.

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MB Valente @mbvalente.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

Mmmmm the cheerful fatalism and funweird of this! "Anti-Capitalism vs the Man of Flowers" by Naomi Kanakia @naokan.bsky.social www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/anti...

lightspeedmagazine.com

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The Sunday Morning Transport @morningtransport.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

The Sunday Morning Transport retraces its steps today with a story from Naomi Kanakia (@naokan.bsky.social) that considers what it means for a life to be worth living. Free for everyone to read!

sundaymorningtransport.com

The Last Planet

In August, Sunday Morning Transport authors Naomi Kanakia, Jim Kelly, Meg Elison, and Elizabeth Bear share stories from far and wide.

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Catharsis Theater: Relief for the Human Heart @catharsistheater.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

(1/5) 🌀 What if therapy isn’t the only answer? What if we’re full of insight but still stuck? Naomi Kanakia’s story exposes the quiet ache beneath modern life. 🔗 www.woman-of-letters.com/p/therapy-is... 📖 Let’s talk myth, meaning, and the mess of being human. @naokan.bsky.social

woman-of-letters.com

Therapy isn't the (only) answer

On mythic, legendary, and Romantic action

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Naomi Kanakia @naokan.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

I highly recommend Nick as a teacher! He is the best writing instructor I've ever had.

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LittlePuss Press @littlepuss.net · 23/06/2025

🗣️ SF BAY 🗣️ This is tomorrow!! 👇 See @aaantons.bsky.social and @naokan.bsky.social in a BAR discussing LITERATURE

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Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

Billionaires ke paas already sab kuchh hai. Ab, aapka time aageya. Billionaires already have everything. Now, your time has come.

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Naomi Kanakia @naokan.bsky.social · 11/05/2025

A novella I self-published on my newsletter got a full write up in the New Yorker.

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Naomi Kanakia @naokan.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

Finally reading the Vivian Blaxsell book. Okay girls, are we gonna talk about her hate-on for Mackenzie Wark? This is wild, but it's sort of the perfect content, given the audience for this book is exclusively composed of people who have heard of Mackenzie Wark

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Naomi Kanakia @naokan.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Okay...WOODWORKING is shockingly good, no?

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Naomi Kanakia @naokan.bsky.social · 27/04/2025

Am having trouble w STAG DANCE. The story seems quite sad, pathetic, painful. Have been stuck for weeks, forcing myself to read it.

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Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Non-Business Newspapers: "The Unconventional Legal Strategy Trump is Using Against Harvard" Business Newspapers: "They're ASSAULTING lady liberty. They're SHOOTING the bald eagles. How much longer do we have to deal with these fucking MORONS"

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Naomi Kanakia @naokan.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

METS is a fantastic resource--one that I actually use. I own several of their books and have consulted others. Truly unique in their democratic ethos and business model. I just donated $200.

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Jeanne Thornton @jeannethornton.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Might I remind!!! This is the first time I am actually getting to go on book tour EVER beyond topside tour 2014 and I am very excited to see you friends!

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John Skiles Skinner @skiles.blue · 21/03/2025

I believe the firings and the AI have the same purpose: to get humans out of the loop of evaluating contracts. To automate the process of spending government money. To rig up a computer that sends taxpayer dollars directly to the broligarchy.

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Naomi Kanakia @naokan.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

I am followed by hundreds of trans women, most of whom are writers. It is fascinating that nobody is reading this book. Something we should think about, given those most writers I know aspire to be this author and get this kind of book deal.

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buy my book @nmamatas.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

The solution has to be a movement against cartelization and against Big Tech, which is seeking to plunder the noosphere--Meta's lawyers believe that if they license even a single book for AI, they cannot make fair use claims for any book. It's all or nothing to them. 10/

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Naomi Kanakia @naokan.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

Is anyone out there reading STAG DANCE? I'm really liking it!

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Naomi Kanakia @naokan.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Never liked Newsom but always at least thought he was smart. How could he have possibly thought this was the right move?

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David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 16/03/2025

I fear we're rapidly reaching the point where "fight" means little more than "survive." The speed with which this regime is literally erasing knowledge, and shutting down the means of pursuing it, both in the humanities and sciences, suggests a new Dark Age is the goal.

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Naomi Kanakia @naokan.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

All these centrists sitting around six weeks into a dictatorship blaming the woke left for Trump's victory are unbelievably tedious. Who is this for? Who's the audience for these reams of verbiage on how trans rights are somehow the reason we have a dictatorship now?

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Naomi Kanakia @naokan.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Many Democrats have shown a lot of character by refusing to throw trans people under the bus. I hope they get rewarded for that. Was very impressed by that video of Bill Keating and by the Senate's refusal to pass the trans sports bill

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Rep. Zooey Zephyr @zoandbehold.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

I'm also really grateful for my friend and colleague, Representative Sherry Essman (R - Billings), who stood up and said it's time to "stop these crazy bills." May her courage be contagious, and may it lead to more Republicans standing up against these bills.

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Naomi Kanakia @naokan.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

The world's richest man is cutting social security. How are democrats unable to capitalize on that?

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Naomi Kanakia @naokan.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

What is going through the heads of people who didn't vote for Kamala but are upset about Trump. Walk me through it. All year I heard actually both are equally bad. Well, are they equally bad or aren't they?

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buy my book @nmamatas.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Meanwhile, in the literary world of sleazefucks and shitbags.

The editors of the nonprofit digital literary magazine Narrative have chosen not to name winners for the 2024 Fall Story Contest, which had offered a prize of $2,500 and publication for a short story, a short short story, an essay, a memoir, a photo essay, a short graphic narrative, or an excerpt from a longer work of prose, as well as a second-place prize of $1,000 and publication. The editors judged. Writers who submitted their work did not receive a refund of the $27 entry fee. (According to the posted submission guidelines, fees “are non-refundable except in the instance of an author inadvertently making a duplicate payment for a submission or when a refund may be granted by the magazine at its discretion in regard of a technological, administrative, or related issue.”) While no winners were named, ten finalists were chosen from the submission pool and awarded $100 each, as listed on Narrative’s contest page.

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Clarion West @clarionwest.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

We are delighted to announce a new Six-Week Workshop scholarship for Trans writers. The Sea Star Scholarship, an annual full-tuition scholarship for the Six-Week Workshop, has been offered by an anonymous donor and will be available for the first time this year.

clarionwest.org

Announcing a Scholarship for Trans Writers

We are delighted to announce the Sea Star Scholarship, an annual full-tuition scholarship for our flagship Six-Week Workshop, offered by an anonymous donor, which will be awarded each year to one…

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Jared @mathbook.cafe · 10/01/2025

@naokan.bsky.social has a fun short story based on a combination of a Mark Twain novel + Silicon Valley gossip. A good read, and feeds me a couple more novels to add to my "tsundoku". I've been thinking of revisiting Twain lately after my Ellison readings www.woman-of-letters.com/p/how-to-mak...

woman-of-letters.com

How to make a fortune working in Silicon Valley

My first job out of college, I worked at a tech startup that suddenly turned hot, raising a big series C.

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Naomi Kanakia @naokan.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

Do you all have strong Mark Twain thoughts? I've been listening to ROUGHING IT, which is incredible. Are any of his other travelogues any good?

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Naomi Kanakia @naokan.bsky.social · 21/12/2024

Wow great review here of my latest :)

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Naomi Kanakia @naokan.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

You're telling me in 1998 a pair of Gen X parents named their kid Luigi?

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Naomi Kanakia @naokan.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

My Substack post today is about the purpose of criticism. It's not to show off your intelligence, it's to guide people who want a direct experience of beauty. www.woman-of-letters.com/p/credibilit...

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Naomi Kanakia @naokan.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

I see that I've passively accumulated a fair number of followers here lately. I mostly post on Substack these days, though. Yesterday I wrote about how the New Yorker has an online form that get 50k story submissions a year and they have NEVER taken one. substack.com/@naomik/note...

substack.com

Naomi Kanakia on Substack

Before I came to Substack, the most popular blog post I ever wrote was a decade ago, at age 26, during my MFA, when I explained that it is impossible to sell a story to the New Yorker using their onli...

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Naomi Kanakia @naokan.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

This article is a little long, but very well-written. I assume most people most of these things, but if people know them, then why do they hate homeless people so much? www.esquire.com/news-politic...

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Anne Trubek @atrubek.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

Today I'm contacting critics I think will be interested in this crazily smart & ambitious novel Belt is publishing in April. If you are such a critic, feel free request a galley! (DM or email)

beltpublishing.com

Major Arcana

John PistelliApril 22, 2025 “Perhaps the elusive great American novel for the twenty-first century.” It begins with a gunshot: a student's public suicide on a university campus. The blast radius of th...

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